Agetech research roundup – featuring Dr David Sinclair and Shinya Yamanaka
Leading healthy-ageing scientist Dr David Sinclair is using AI to build a pill that reverses ageing with a targeted price of US$100.
Explaining the science behind these developments Dr Sinclair says all human cells carry the same DNA, with the determination of their exact role being a function of the cell overlord – the epigenome – the determinant of which genes are switched on and off.
He explained that ageing occurs when genes that should stay silent, start activating in the wrong cells, as a result the cell loses its identity and forgets what it was built to do.
Dr Sinclair, co-founder of Life Biosciences, contends that that single process is the root cause of heart disease, Alzheimer’s, and most cancers.
His researchers discovered that chemicals can do the job of the epigenome, and in the lab, with mice, for example, they have been able to ‘rejuvenate ears, skin and reverse motorneurone disease’.
He says that as things stand such therapy could cost over $100,000 per treatment and his team is using AI to help cut this cost. He said: “What if it could be $100 instead? That’s what I’m working for. I want to democratize this technology so anyone, even in Kenya, can take these medicines.”
Yamanaka First
Japan has approved the world’s first treatments with reprogrammed human cells targeting Parkinson’s and heart disease.
Researchers led by Shinya Yamanaka, who pioneered the reprogramming of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) 20 years ago, have been given the go-ahead to manufacture and sell medical products based on the technology by Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.
These will be the world’s first practical applications of iPS cell-derived products.
“We are very pleased to have taken a major step toward social application on the 20th anniversary of the announcement of mouse iPS cells,” said Dr Yamanaka.
Induced pluripotent stem cells are adult cells, such as skin or blood cells, that have been reprogrammed to function like embryonic stem cells.
They can divide indefinitely and can take the form of any cell type. Thanks to this ability, they can be used for regenerative medicines and research.
One of the regenerative medicines approved is ReHeart, from Qualipse, a startup based at Osaka University and is intended for patients with severe heart failure due to ischemic cardiomyopathy.
The second approved product is Amusepri which consists of precursor cells destined to become dopamine-producing neurons made from donor iPS cells.
It is designed to improve motor symptoms in patients with Parkinson’s disease who have had an inadequate response to existing drug therapies.
Gut feeling
Speculation that gut bacteria are partial determinants of longevity may be valid according to some recent research.
In a series of recent studies, teams of microbiologists and ageing researchers identified previously unknown bacterial strains that were more prevalent in individuals who lived beyond 90 years.
This longevity research focused on the metabolic activity of these microbes, which seem to produce compounds that reduce inflammation and protect cells from oxidative damage.
The research team discovered that certain bacteria contribute to higher levels of short-chain fatty acids, such as butyrate, which has been linked to improved intestinal health and reduced age-related decline.
While the exact mechanisms remain under investigation, researchers believe these bacteria influence the gut-brain axis, regulating signals related to stress, mood, and cognition, factors all associated with longevity.
A new study reveals that the anti-aging benefits of exercise depend on mitochondrial remodelling in your muscles.
The study’s conclusions are based on insights from both mouse experiments and a human clinical trial. In the former, researchers gave aged mice access to running wheels for 12 weeks.
Compared to sedentary mice of the same age, the exercising mice showed significant improvements in grip strength, endurance, and overall physical performance. The researchers traced these improvements directly to changes in skeletal muscle mitochondria.
The researchers also conducted a 12-week multicomponent exercise program with frail older adults with an average age of 78. The programme included resistance training, balance exercises, and gait training.
By the end, participants showed measurable reductions in frailty. Muscle biopsies from participants revealed the same mitochondrial remodelling patterns seen in the mice.
Mitochondria convert the food you eat into usable fuel that powers everything from muscle contractions to brain function.
